AIST Develops PID-resistant CIGS Solar Panel

Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a CIGS solar panel that prevents potential induced degradation (PID).

PID lowers power generation capacity at mega-solar (large-scale solar) power plants, etc. The development was announced March 18, 2014.

For the new CIGS solar panel, AIST employed an ionomer resin, which is made by adding a small number of metal ions to an interpolymer of ethylene and methacrylic acid to form bridges between molecules, as a sealing material instead of EVA.

In its own experiment, AIST found that CIGS solar panels are more resistant to PID than silicon-based solar panels. In addition, it succeeded in further improving PID resistance by using an ionomer resin, which has a high volume resistivity, as a sealing material.